The Masters Golf Tournament

For obsessed golfers like us, this is our favorite time of year. If you live in a place where golf isn’t a year-round sport, the arrival of 60-degree weather with no sign of snow is a welcome sight. Professional golf is in full swing, and The Players Championship is on the horizon. That means golf season is almost here—and it’s time to start predicting the winner of the most prestigious event of all: The Masters Golf Tournament.

Pam and her husband Jeff at the iconic clubhouse

It's a magical moment in time for anyone who remotely watches and/or plays golf. It also comes at the same time of year when the weather breaks. So you have to tape it and hope no one tells you what’s happening and go out and play golf yourself. The question becomes, do I play golf outside for the first time in months and tape the Master’s or do I stay inside and watch it live? Last year I was given the most amazing gift by a friend, tickets to The Master’s. He gave us two practice round days, Monday and Tuesday. Every golfer’s dream is to visit this incredible place, and what was a pipe dream was now reality for myself and my husband. 

I immediately started my research on flights and hotels and was shocked by how much everything increased in price due the tournament. Since we have Hilton points I tried to find a Hilton close to Augusta. I found a Hampton inn about 40 minutes away in Thomson for $350/night. Thankfully not full because every other place in the area was. The flight was way too expensive so we drove from Chicago and stopped for a night in Nashville. Most of our hotel in Thomson was full of people going to the Master’s.

When we arrived at The Masters the next morning, it was more than what I could have imagined. When people say it’s heaven on earth they’re correct. It takes your breath away. Everything is spectacular. Every blade of grass is in the right spot and cut to perfection. Every view is 1000 times more beautiful in person. Every ungulation is 10 times more steep. Every hill is 100 times more tall. Every green is more pristine and every fairway is immaculate. My head was on a swivel, what do I look at next? Where do I go next? The worst decision we made was to head for the souvenir hut. The line was a mile long and we waited in it for three precious hours. Although I found many great gifts and cool clothes, my time would have been better served walking around and getting the lay of the land. We ended up taking our souvenirs back to the car and walking the golf course. (A side note here is what the crowd was waiting to buy. Golfer gnomes! They came in two sizes, one was a golfer and the smaller was a caddy. Apparently they can be worth a lot of money and by the time we entered the souvenir hut they were sold out.) 

Brush with Greatness - Pam meeting Nancy Lopez at 2024 Masters

Everyone there was as happy as us. It was an unexplainable vibe. We went to get the obligatory pimento cheese sandwich and ran into Nancy Lopez! Disposable cameras are allowed the first two days and I got my photo opp with her. She was extremely gracious, what an unexpected treat.

Fred Couples, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods

We made it to the ninth green about mid afternoon to get our spots for what I believed to be the group to watch, Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and Freddy Couples. We were all about the scenery, food and experience but this was the cherry on the cupcake. Since they were practicing, we could hear their interactions and watch them work on their craft. It was an experience like no other. The crowd that followed this group was huge but we held our ground, after all we were waiting first! I took a bunch of photos with my Fuji disposable. When I got home and developed them they did not do anything we saw justice. 

That night after golf, we went to downtown Augusta for dinner. Not much there by the way. Don’t go to Augusta for the food! We went to Luigi’s, a family-owned Italian restaurant sort-of famous in Augusta with a long history. It was okay, I’ll give it a par on a scale of Hole-in-one, Eagle, Birdie, Par, or Bogie. Food was average, atmosphere was average, but overall probably the best choice in the area. We were exhausted after walking about ten miles so we headed home after dinner. My husband wanted to go very early the next morning and get back in line for a gnome. (If you can't tell I’m rolling my eyes.) Departure was at 6 am!

Success! We got the gnomes.

This day we arrived before the place was open. We also entered through the back. We waited in line for about 20 minutes to get in and to our surprise there was another souvenir hut right by the entrance. We waited in a very small line for about a half hour and they had restocked the gnomes! Each person was allowed one gnome each so my husband and I each got two, one golfer and one caddy. I don’t even want to tell you how much we spent but suffice it to say it was more than our hotel. (We bought a lot of gifts for other people too.)

Amen Corner

We carried our loot back to the car and got down to business. We walked around Amen Corner, took more photos, and then decided to park ourselves in the grandstands at hole 16. It’s the par three where the golfers, and sometimes caddies, try to skip their ball across the pond and land it on the green. What a riot! I highly recommend spending time here if you go during a practice round. Pretty much every golfer coming to this hole tried to skip the ball on the water. We met tons of people just like us who are as crazy about this place as we have become. There’s tons of seating but you can bring in chairs if you want to sit around the green. And the amazing thing is no one moves your chairs if you leave to walk around. Everyone is very respectful. We had a couple beers and tried the pulled pork sandwich. It was fine, food was very cheap. Actually the whole experience at the actual golf course was inexpensive. I like how they make it affordable for everyone. Even the clothes and souvenirs are affordable.

Masters Pimento Cheese Sandwich Recipe

I was sad to leave that magical place that day. I don’t need to go back to Augusta but I want to. Every golfer should be able to experience it at some point in their life. I feel so fortunate to have been able to see this place in person. If you get the opportunity, do not pass on it. This majestic golf course needs to be seen in person, for it is truly heaven on earth.

Have you been to the Masters or want to go? We'd love to hear about your experiences. Please share in the comments below. Scroll down under the recent posts.

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